More boo-boos

Have I ever mentioned how ummm...."energetic" Isaac is? As soon as his eyes pop open in the morning, he is WIDE awake and ready to start the day. I am soooooo not a morning person!! He gets that from his Daddy!

Anyways, about 3 months ago, he thought he would help Elyssa down our 3 steps to the back door. I was in the basement getting laundry when I heard the dreaded thud, followed by screaming. This resulted in Elyssa's 1st emergency room visit and x-ray. The diagnosis? A broken collar bone! Ugggh!

So on to more recent boo-boos. We were out shopping on Friday and Elyssa was buckled safely in the shopping cart with Isaac walking next to it....You see where I'm going with this right? Just when I turned to pay for my items, the cashier put his hand to his mouth and said "Oh noooo" - Before I even saw what was happening, I again heard that very distinguishable THUD, followed by screaming. My very energetic Isaac had jumped onto the side rail (down by the wheels) of the cart and flipped it. Poor Elyssa now has a nasty bruise on her forehead but doesn't seem too traumatized...unlike her Mommy, who now has shopping cart-phobia.

The Dentist

Do they EVER have anything good to say?? I took Ethan and Isaac for appointments today and they both need alot of work done to their teeth. Good grief, Isaac is only FOUR! So, I'm having another bad Mommy day. They brush twice a day...I'll be honest and say that flossing doesn't get done. I feel pretty bad that they have to go through so much now. I am 34 and have NEVER had a cavity filled, but Mike has had almost all of his teeth "fixed" at some point. Is is hereditary?? Brandon is 18 and has never had a cavity filled or anything else besides a cleaning every year.

Arrgh, arrgh, arrgh!!

Party Time

Isaac's party is over and I am thrilled to say that I don't have to throw another birthday party until JUNE! I am definitely not one of those people who enjoys hosting parties, it makes me nervous and stressed and I'm always relieved when it's over.

The party was ok. Everything was a blur to me, but he played hard and had fun and that's all that matters. Another (larger) party came in so we kind of rushed things to get out of their way.

We brought his little cousin Joey (also 4) back home with us for a sleepover. They are both snoozin' already but I'm sure they'll have fun playing tomorrow.

Once again, happy birthday my sweet little guy.

Happy Birthday Isaac!!

We spent part of the day at Auntie Rachels house, just playing...then came home and had mac 'n cheese with sliced hot dogs for dinner. The birthday boy got a plate full of brownies to share with his siblings, and we gave him gifts from us. Sunday will be his real party at Burger King Playland.

Happy Birthday my chatty little man! We love you!!

The Day Before Tomorrow

Good morning! Long weekend and I spent most of it at home doing nothing of importance. Mike worked 24 hours of overtime last week, including 12 hours Saturday so I went to church Sunday and then spent the rest of the day watching movies, watching him play Lego Indiana Jones with the boys, and just relaxing with him. He's working hard to get us out of what I call the "after Christmas hole" LOL I feel bad that he is working so much but the overtime doesn't usually last for too long and it's a huge blessing for us right now.

So this morning its back to school after a 4 day weekend for Haylee and Ethan. Like a bad Mom, I fed Isaac and Elyssa some instant oatmeal and plopped them on the couch to watch some TV...Nothin' like a little mickey in the morning to grant Mommy a few minutes of peace. I can hear them both singing the "hot dog" song. Though Elyssa sounds more like "hotdough, hotdough".

Tomorrow my Isaac turns FOUR years old and I find myself wondering what I was doing on this day 4 years ago. It was a Thursday and I was packing my bag. I knew I was being induced the next morning but thats me, a procrastinator all the way! I remember packing up the soft blue crocheted blanket my Mom had made, the little blue knotted hats and tiny blue socks. I spent the day TRYING to enjoy those last kicks and punches inside my belly. He was going to be our last baby (haha) so I wanted to remember those moments....but all the trying in the world didn't help. I really just wanted him OUT!! I was so umcomfortable, my ribs hurts, it hurt to walk, and I was DONE! I wanted to meet my little Isaac.

The next day I found out why I so umcomfortable. My little boy was 9lbs 7oz and was born battered and bruised but healthy! To be honest, my first thought was "Wow, why does he look like that?" LOL His ears were smashed flat against his head and his little nose was terribly crooked.





The picture below makes me laugh everytime...Especially now because I noticed that I named this picture "YIKES". Oh my gosh, I am a HORRIBLE horrible Mother (said as I am still laughing). My poor child, but seriously, how can you not giggle a bit when you look at that!?



This one wasn't too bad....



And thankfully, after several hours, he turned into THIS beautiful little thing :o)

1/16/10

Haylee is off to Camp Timberlane with the Girl Scouts. I went there with the school when I was the same age as she is. Seems like it would be alot more fun if it weren't WINTER but whatever LOL....I love the Girl Scouts program. They still say their "promise" at every meeting, which is:

On my honor, I will try:
To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout

How awesome is that? Pretty much sums up everything you need to be in life. We went with the troop to a nursing home for Christmas, they've cleaned up at the schools and planted flowers there, and many other things. I am really looking forward to April when we go to Cosi and stay overnight in a hotel. Haylee is all about girl time, which we don't get very often, so that will be a special time for us.

As for the house, I am keeping up! I got the downstairs mopped yesterday and worked on painting my kitchen trash can to match my 50's diner kitchen. It looks so cute now (the blue can was really clashing)....My plan was to do it black and red but being that we are BROKE from Christmas, I thought I'd wait a few more weeks before spending money on paint. While I was out yesterday, I thought I'd stop just to get an idea of what paint costs, and the nice boy at True Value said, "We have one color on clearance right now for $1.99 - I think it's RED". I love it when I'm reminded that God cares about even our smallest desires, not ONLY our needs - though that would be enough.

It's Snuggle Week

This is the week that Mike works 11pm to 7am....So, this is the week that my sweet snuggly girl sleeps with me all night. Ok honestly, she sleeps with US most nights anyways, but I do enjoy that one week a month that we have the bed to ourselves. Mike tosses and turns all night, gets up to go to the bathroom at least once, snores....You get the idea.

Anyways, I have been reading my Eclipse book every night since I got it for Christmas. So now Elyssa always brings her own book to bed and she always waits for me to pick up mine from under the bed. It's so cute, and she hardly "reads" for a minute before she starts wiggling over to me and before I know it, she's nestled under my arm and lost in dreamland.

Last night after she went to sleep, I snuck back in here...to the computer of course! I was reading someones blog and you know - one blogs leads to another. Somehow I found myself on the blog of a Mother who lost her baby girl, Maddie, at about the same age that Elyssa is now. I sat and read her blog for close to an hour. Google Maddie Spohr, this little girl had an amazing smile! As I went back to bed and looked at my sweet sleeping pink-cheeked girl, I was reminded once again that my children are gifts. I didn't deserve them, I am not worthy...maybe not even fully capable of the job God has given me. So many people are not so blessed, and yet we often take our kids for granted. Thank you God for reminding me what really matters in life!

As for my day, I finally got the computer room cleaned. It wasn't as bad as I expected and looks pretty darn good :o) Tomorrow, more laundry and some grocery shopping.

Oh, I also decided to get more serious with some preschool learning for Isaac. He is definitely my most difficult child to teach so I admit I tend to put things off due to my own lack of patience :o( But tonight he surprised me with what he already knows. He easily pointed out A, B, C, D and E but I stopped after E. Didn't want to push it :o) I wrote his name and he wrote it by himself underneath mine. He did mazes in the activity book and had no problem matching pictures to their "shadows" on the other side. My wee man might be mentally ready for this stuff now. LOL He will go to school late due to his birthday so he doesn't go until the Fall of 2011, but I might actually put him in a VERY part time preschool this coming Fall. I've never done the preschool thing, but I think for Isaac, it'll really help prepare him for Kindergarden...mainly the structured setting, sitting down, being quiet, listening, etc. I hope his Kindergarden teacher is ready for him! LOL

Speaking of my sleeping beauty....This is from today, napping with a build-a-bear panda, which is actually HAYLEE's but Elyssa stole it a couple of months ago and won't give it back LOL

Good enough

I dusted, I mopped....never got the computer room cleaned but I ended up washing some walls and ceiling fans so I'll save the computer room for tomorrow. I also did our first "10 minute room clean-up" with the kids. I set a timer for 10 minutes and then supervise (LOL) while they clean as much as possible in the 10 minutes. They actually went for it and did very well :o)

Tomorrows Plan:

Computer room
2 loads of laundry

1/11/10

Today's plan:

Computer room clean-up
Dusting
Mopping (since I never got to it Saturday)

I've been thinking about my last post, and I think I've had a revelation!! The two issues (feeling like I need to DO something AND the slacking with my kids) are completely related! The thing I've been missing and feeling like I should be doing, is enjoying my kids, loving on my kids, teaching my kids....and sadly, I've even gotten lazy with teaching them about Jesus. It's time to get back on track, and to see the wonderful opportunity God has given me. I used to feel that it was the most important thing in the world, raising these little humans :o) But those feelings got lost somewhere along the way.

Brandon, Haylee, Ethan, Isaac and Elyssa - They ARE my legacy!! Whatever they become as adults, is directly a result of how WE raise them. Wow!! How scary and exciting at the same time!! I'm up to the challenge! Bring it on!

Ummm....

I just re-read my last post...Is it possible that I'm having what they call a mid-life crisis, but maybe a bit early??....CRAP!!

A New Year

and I haven't posted since JUNE!?? Bad bad me!! Sometimes I wonder why I even bother coming back :o)

All is well for the most part here. Haylee and Ethan are getting straight A's in school, Isaac is getting ready to turn 4 on the 20th, Elyssa is causing toddler havoc around the house and Brandon is working at Toysrus.

Lately I've been feeling....I don't know...old? Sometimes it feels like life is moving so fast. When I think back to my teen years, it doesn't seem like so long ago, but technically I could say I was a teenager TWENTY years ago. That doesn't sit well with me and it gives me an uneasy feeling, but why? Thirty-four isn't what most people would consider to be old but for some reason, I can't get the thought out of my head that you only live once. You truely only get ONE chance to live your life, and then you're gone and life just goes on without you. And somewhere down the line it's as if you never even existed. Have I done anything truely memorable? Will I "leave a legacy" as the song says? I feel this urge to do SOMETHING lately, something of importance, but I can't pin point what that thing is. It bugs me on a daily basis lately and I need to start praying that God will show me what it is.

Many times lately I also feel like I am totally slacking with my kids. I think back to when I had Brandon and Haylee and Ethan was a baby. I had so many plans every day and I couldn't wait to just go for a walk with them, or to the library, or just to the park. I enjoyed my time with them and when I went to bed at night, I felt like I had done something important that day....something that mattered. Then Isaac came along and don't get me wrong, I love him always. It's not HIM...But with child number 4 I guess things started to get harder and more tiring. Then Elyssa came along too. Everything feels more like a chore now. Like "I really don't feel like going to the park but I will because a good parent would". I WANT to feel like I used to but don't know how to get back to that point....and I blame alot of that on my own lack of organization. I let things get behind, like laundry or the bathroom cleaning or whatever. Then I get stressed about those things and have to work harder to get them in order again. I procrastinate until I am stressed and late and angry with EVERYONE for not being ready, when really it was my own fault for not starting earlier. It's a vicious circle that leaves me stressed and worn out by the end of the day.

Well, thats all very depressing isn't it??

Anyway, it's a new year!! My New Years resolution is to get my house clean and keep it that way (as much as possible considering we have 5 kids!). That got me thinking about my blog and I thought maybe I could use it as sort of a "to do" list.

So for tomorrow, my plan is to get these things done:

2 loads of laundry, washed and put away

mop the downstairs

Clean the downstairs bathroom

PLAY WITH MY KIDS WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT WHAT ELSE NEEDS DONE!!

Sounds like a plan to me :o)